Prefabricated building construction



Oct.- 12, 1943.

c. R. WILSON PREFABRICATED BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 23, 1941 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR CHARLES R'W/LSON.

Ill

I ATTOR/XL'K c. R. WILSQN PREFABRICATED BUILDING CONSTRUCTIQR Oct. 12,1943.

Filed Sept. 23 1941 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR, CHARLES R. WILSON.

ATTORNE K.

Patented Get. 12, 1943 STATES PATENT OFFICE PREFABRICATED BUILDINGCONSTRUCTION 3 Claims.

' great success. Three standard types of units are used: blanks forgeneralwall construction, window panels, and door panels. The standardpancl size is 8 feet by 4 feet. Each plywood face is bonded under highpressure in the mill to an inner framework of 54 by 2 studding. Thestresses to which the panels are subject are carried jointly by theinner studding and the plyw od faces, and a very strong rigid structureis obtained. .The studding commonly extends to within a few inches ofthe panel edges, leaving a space all around the periphery of the panelunit which is utilized'for connection to neighboring units and to thebottom plates or sills and top, plates which support the ceiling of theroom.

These connections are commonly made by means of top and bottom platesover which the peripheral panel spaces'fit, and to which the units aresecured by nails, glue, or other conventianal means, so that they mayconstitute stressbearing members in the construction of the house.

In assembly, the units are set one by one on the fioor plates, usingmeans such as a block and tackle to pull them together, and are thensecured together along their'adjac'ent vertical edges. Some force isrequired to pull neighboring panels together tightly while they arebeing secured to the floor plates. A strong joint is needed to preventseparation between the panels when the main frame of the house shrinksor settles.

My invention is specifically I concerned with this problem of joiningpanel units along their adjacent vertical edges. In the prior art, onemethod used has been to insert a loose stud in the peripheral panelspaces, nailing each panel edge thereto. As the building weathers, thisconstruction tends to pull the nails loose from the plywood or thestudding or both, and in many cases causes a vertical split to developin the in serted stud through which daylight can be seen thereto.

volves two wedges. as thick at'the bottom, as the separation between theinner and outer panels. The other wedge is of equal thickness at thetop. These wedges are dropped into the adjacent panel edge spaces andforced together so that the panels are held by friction, and the panelsare then nailed thereto. The difliculty is that the panel edges areforced outwardly as the wedges are inserted therebetween, distorting theplane of the interior and exterior walls. Frame shrinkage then causescracks'and ruins any finish that may have been applied.

Still another method involves inserting a rigid block of fiber orsimilar material between the adjacent panels and screwing or nailing thepanels Since the fiber is usually stronger than the wall panels,dimensional changes result in a breakdown around the nail 'or screwholes with results which will be obvious. With any of these methods, assoon as dimensional changes or settling of the frame occur, the paneljoints will open up, either at the top or bottom. The result is not onlyunsightly, but does not, as will be appreciated, insure adequateprotection.

My invention comprises in brief, a joint which will draw adjacent panelstogether during construction without using additional equipment, andwhich insures that the close relationship of the adjoining panels willbe maintained throughout the life of the structure. i

The objects of my invention thus include: simplifying the methods ofconstructing prefabricated houses; providing means for joiningprefabricated panel-units together without the use of special equipment;insuring that adjacent panel units will remain rigidly secured togetherdespite dimensional changes due to weathering of a structure; joiningpanel units without distorting 'the flat planes of the panel faces; andproviding means for fixing panel units together drawings, in which Ihave illustrated preferred embodiments of my invention, and from the--study of the detailed description following. It is to be understood thatthe embodiments shown are exemplary only of the principles of myinvention, and that I may incorporatethese prin ciples in other specificembodiments within the scope of my invention as defined In the drawings,Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a room 'corner by the claims.

One wedge is substantially formed by three standard panel unitsincorporating my invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of adjacent panel units secured togetherto form a wall;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detailed sectional view, taken as indicated byline 3--3 in Fig. 2, showing the mode of connection of a panel to the toplate;

Fig. 4 is a cross section along line 4--4 of Fig. 2,

showing the details of a preferred form of my showing details of a jointusing the joining member of Figs. 4 and 8.

Referring now to the drawings for a detailed description of myinvention, I have illustrated in Fig. l the corner of a room underconstruction, in which are utilized the three standard types of panels.n the conventional floor frame of the structure, which has been omittedfor clarity in illustration, I mount floor plates I and 2, intersectingnormally to define the corner of the room. On plates I and 2 are mounteda standard wall blank 4, a window panel unit and a door unit 6. Afterthe panels have been set on the floor plates and 2 and the jointconnection made as described in detail below, top plates 1 and 8 areinserted at the top, and the panel units rigidly secured thereto. InFig. 3 I have shown the manner in which the top plate I is set into thepanel unit 4. Conventional fastening means, not shown, unite the plate'I to the panel unit.

The construction of the individual panel blanks 4 may be understood fromFigs. 1-3. The blank panel 4 is plain, and may be used in any desirednumber to form a wall of desired dimensions. The window panel 5incorporates a window 9,

which is preferably inserted at the factory as one stage of manufacture.The door panel unit 6 has a door frame ||i built in at the factory, but,

it is usually preferable to hang the door on the frame at the buildingsite. That portion H of the floor plate l underlying the door frame Illmay be used as a door sill or removed entirely.

Each panel unit, as the blank 4, for example, comprises a frameworkformed by inner vertical studding I2, inner horizontal studding I4,vertical outer studding l5 and horizontal outer studding l6, all bondedunder pressure with waterproof glue to inner and outer plywood panelfaces I! and 9. It is usual to make the outer panel face I9 thicker thanthe inner panel face I! in the outer walls of the structure, althoughthe same thickness may. be used for both in setting up interior walls. Isecure tapered locking strips 20 and 2| of rectangular cross-sectionwithin the panel faces I9 and I1 in the plane '22 of the edges ofadjacent panel units. The strips 20 and 2| are pressure-bonded to thepanels by the same process which produces the entire panel unit. anddefine an H-shaped channel within adjacent panel edges.

Strips 20 and 2|, in their simplest form as shown in Figs. 5-7, arenarrowed in their dimension parallel to the panel faces by about /2"from bottom to top of the standard 8 foot panel section. Suflicientclearance is left between the outer vertical studding l5 and the paneledges so that-a locking member 24 of H-shaped crosssection can beinserted therein and engage over the locking strips 20 and 2|. Lockingmember 24 is centrally rectangularly recessed, tapering from a widebottom portion 25 to a narrower upper portion 26 with substantiallyequal taper to that of the locking strips 20 and 2|.

This taper is sufficient to draw the adjacent panels tightly togetherall along their adjacent edges when the locking member 24 is driven overthe locking strips 20 and 2 I'. It will be apparent that no bulgingoutwardly of 'the panel faces I1 and I9 adjacent the plane 22 of joiningwill occur, since no forces are set up transversely of the plane of thepanel faces. With so small a taper, the critical frictional angle isemployed so that once the locking member 24 is in place, the joint willremain fixed without nails or other fastenings. If it is desired todismantle the structure, the locking member 24 can be forcibly withdrawnby suitable equipment, requiring simply a strong upward pull.

The embodiment of Fig. 5 is applied to corners as shown in Fig. :7. Alocking member such as that shown at 24 in Fig. 5 is cut lengthwisetransversely, and the halves '40 are secured normally by screws 4|,glue, or equivalent means, to a quarter-round corner member 42. Themember 42, with its locking halves 40, is then secured to the normallydisposed wall panels 4 and 5, as illustrated in Fig. 1, by the samemethod as described above.

It will be obvious that the construction shown might be modified forother corner types, securing additional locking halves 40 in positionfor T-joints or for the intersection of two walls normally disposed andpassing through each other. It will also be seen that the member towhich the locking portions are secured could be of such cross-sectionthat the walls could meet at any angle desired, as well as at rightangles. The structural corner tie not only secures the panels in alocked position but also provides a finished exterior appearance withoutthe necessity of adding an outside facing.

An alternative embodiment is shown in Figs. 4, 8 and 9 in which theinserted locking member is strengthened against stresses parallel to theplane of the wall, and in which other features of advantage will beseen.

Keystoned recesses are formed in the inserted locking member, taperingfrom a wide bottom 21 to a n'arrowertop portion 29 and arranged tocooperate with the keystoned locking strips 30 and 3| secured to panelfaces l9 and I1.

For exterior construction, I may arrange the locking members with acut-away portion 32 and provide sufllcient clearance from looking strips30 and 3| for a layer 33 of glue, mastic, or

. waterproofing material.

A reinforcing ply 34 is disposed through the locking member to provideadditional tensile strength. Ply 34 may be of plywood, hard fiber,metal, or any other suitable material, and secured to the rest of thelocking member by any stoned members 30 and 3| of Fig. 4. Legs 35 normalto the plane of faces l1 and I9 cooperate with plates 31 parallelthereto to fit over lock ing strips 20, and a similar arrangement weldedthereto at 36 fits over looking strips 2i, forming the completeconnecting member 39. This member 39 may be removable, or masticcompound Or glue used to seal the joints just as in the otherembodiments.

It will be seen from the above description that I have provided a methodof joining prefabricated panel units to each other along their verticaledges'which prevents the opening up of thejoints-due to settling andweathering, and which can be utilized without special equipment or theuse of skilled workmen. The structure can be set up permanently, or maybe arranged to be dismantled quickly if desired. My construction enablesa wall'covering to be applied to multipaneled walls without danger ofcracking or wrinkling along the joints, and is economicallyadvantageous, both in labor cost in assembly at the site and in cost ofmanufacture .at themill.

What I claim is:

1. The combination in a prefabricated building construction ofconjoinable units, each unit comprising a pairof spaced panel memberswith intermediate studding, a tapered locking strip pressure-bonded tothe inner face of each panel adjacent to the matching edge of the nextsucceeding panel, each strip being substantially coextensive in lengthwith the length of the panel and being wider at the bottom'than at thetop, the strip being beveled and undercut along its rear edge, wherebythe two adjacent strips of two contiguous units will present adovetailed member, one-half of which is carried on each of saidcontiguous units, these dovetailed members being arranged in opposedspaced pairs on the two inner faces of the panels, and a single lockingmember spanning the space between the panels of the two contiguous unitsand brid ing the gap between the units and having correspondingdovetailed grooves to interlock with the dovetails formed by the stripsto align the units and draw the same together.

2. The combination in prefabricated building 5 construction ofconjoinable units, each unit comprising a pairof spaced plywood panelmembers with intermediate studding, adjacent ends of each unit providedwith a section of a dovetailing strip, said strip extending from top tobottom of its unit and there being two of these strips along eachuniting of a unit and pressure-bonded to the respective inner faces ofthe panels of the unit and disposed so that a pair of these strips faceeach other on the inside of the unit and lispaced apart in cooperativerelation with one another and with the strips on the immediatelyadjacent edge of the succeeding unit, said strips tapered lengthwisewith their narrowest width at the top of the panel, each strip likewisebeveled on its edge farthest removed from the adjacent unit edge, thecontiguous strips on adjacent edges of co-planar surfaces constitutingwith the corresponding strips of the adjacent unit a dovetailed member,and a locking member coextensive in length with the strips and havingdovetailed grooves on its opposite edges engageable with the dovetailedstrips to engage the latter to draw the units together and lock them inalignment.

3. In prefabricated, building construction, a pair of wall units, eachcomprising a 'pair of panels with intermediate studding, a cornerconnection for the units including a segmental section interposedbetween the adjacent ends of the units and coextensive in lengththerewith, tapered locking strips secured with the unit at the edgesthereof, an interlocking strip with a cooperating dovetailed grooveengaged with the opposed pair of tapered strips secured inside a panel,and means to secure the interlock strip of 40 each unit to the segmentalcorner section to draw said units and corner segment together to form arigid structure.

. CHARLES R. WILSON.

